Covid-19 pandemic

[ursus arctos]

Schools and offices are beginning to announce closures for next week

The Friuli Venezia Giulia region has declared a state of emergency

Hypochondria is characteristic of a meaningful part of Italian society in the best of times and I can only imagine what things are like now. I'm also very concerned as to how this will exacerbate already strong anti-immigrant attitudes, especially w/r/t to East Asians.

[Balderdasha]

The 9 deaths in Iran was an overstatement apparently, it's back down to 5 deaths now.

[Moonlight Shadow]

Schools and offices are beginning to announce closures for next week

The Friuli Venezia Giulia region has declared a state of emergency

Hypochondria is characteristic of a meaningful part of Italian society in the best of times and I can only imagine what things are like now. I'm also very concerned as to how this will exacerbate already strong anti-immigrant attitudes, especially w/r/t to East Asians.

Correct, Italians are awful when it comes to hypochondria. Don't try to open a window in a train to get some fresh air when it's 35c outside, someone will tell you cold air is bad for you...

[ursus arctos]

Following an emergency cabinet meeting, eleven towns with an aggregate population of about 60,000 have been put on lockdown.

All sporting and cultural events in Lombardy and the Veneto are subject to cancellation. It isn't yet clear if this includes Serie A matches in Bergamo, Milan and Verona scheduled for tomorrow.

[Balderdasha]

Italy currently has more cases (79) than Hong Kong (70).

Global total is 78,633 cases and 2,459 deaths.

The first case in Iraq has been reported. Cases have been seen in 33 countries and territories, as well as the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has been mostly evacuated apart from a few remaining staff now.

[Ginger Yellow]

All sporting and cultural events in Lombardy and the Veneto are subject to cancellation. It isn't yet clear if this includes Serie A matches in Bergamo, Milan and Verona scheduled for tomorrow.

Oh FFS. I'm supposed to be going on holiday in Piemonte in a week.

[Balderdasha]

South Korea has raised its alert level to red (the highest available), with 602 cases and 5 deaths. More than half of the cases are linked to the Shincheonji church cluster, but they're not all confined to one city.

[ursus arctos]

Sorry, GY

The number of cases is up to 129, of which 89 are in Lombardy, which has now closed its schools.

Torino's home match against Parma has now been postponed (bringing the total to four) and the league is considering whether next week's matches in the north should be played behind closed doors.

Venice has now reported two cases and is considering the suspension of all Carnevale activities.

The WHO is perplexed by the Italian outbreak, as many of the victims don't have clear links to China or individuals who recently returned from there.

[ursus arctos]

Italy is updating cases every hour, and the total is now 133

Piemonte has now closed its schools, while Lombardy has closed theatres, museums and cinemas, as well as suspending all masses. Ischia is barring entry to visitors from Lombardy and Piemonte.

[Balderdasha]

Italy now has more cases than Japan (if you're counting the Diamond Princess cases separately). Venice carnival has been cancelled.

UK has 4 new cases in some of the citizens who were repatriated from the Diamond Princess, which suggests again that either the incubation period is longer than thought, or the virus doesn't show up in early tests.

[ursus arctos]

There's been a third death, this time in Crema

Cases now up to 152, 112 in Lombardy

Milan has closed its Cathedral

[Balderdasha]

Pakistan and Turkey have closed their borders with Iran.

[ursus arctos]

Austria has suspended passenger train traffic from Italy over the Brenner Pass.

Romania is quarantining all individuals arriving from Lombardy and the Veneto.

The bar on sporting events has been extended to Emilia Romagna, Liguria and Piedmont.

[Patrick Thistle]

BBC website report today

Coronavirus has now spread to 29 countries, with more than 2,500 deaths in mainland China where it first emerged. BBC medical correspondent Fergus Walsh says the situation looks like the early stages of a pandemic, with the virus spreading in the community in multiple parts of the world.

There are several hotspots right now. South Korea has the largest number of confirmed cases outside China, while North Korea has quarantined foreigners. Italy has the highest number of cases in Europe, and Iran has confirmed 43 in multiple cities and eight deaths. In the UK, four passengers flown back from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship have now tested positive, bringing the total number of cases in Britain to 13.

[Moonlight Shadow]

Colleague is due to fly to Milan on Friday, he is not so sure anymore...

[Balderdasha]

It's a month since I started this thread on 24th February.

In that time, deaths have risen 100-fold from 26 to 2,626. Cases have done pretty much the same, going from 800 to 79,698.

South Korea now has more cases (833) than China did when I started the thread.

Today, cases have been reported in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Bahrain for the first time.

I dispute the BBC figure of 29 countries. I think it's 36 countries / territories plus the Diamond Princess. The only way the BBC could have such a low figure is if they were reporting before the announcement about Kuwait, Afghanistan and Bahrain, and if they're counting Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as integral parts of China.

[Nocturnal Submission]

I dispute the BBC figure of 29 countries. I think it's 36 countries / territories plus the Diamond Princess. The only way the BBC could have such a low figure is if they were reporting before the announcement about Kuwait, Afghanistan and Bahrain, and if they're counting Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as integral parts of China.

That is indeed the case, apart from Taiwan, which it does list:

[Balderdasha]

They're also missing Iraq from that list.

[Nocturnal Submission]

They're also missing Iraq from that list.

It doesn't seem to appear on the WHO's most recent update: https://www.who.int/docs/default-sou...rsn=44ff8fd3_2

[ad hoc]

It's all a bit baffling. If Chinese figures are to be believed, the rate of infection is going down considerably (outside Hubei), and yet it seems to be shooting up outside China. What would be the likely reasons behind this?

[Nocturnal Submission]

It's all a bit baffling. If Chinese figures are to be believed, the rate of infection is going down considerably (outside Hubei), and yet it seems to be shooting up outside China. What would be the likely reasons behind this?

I suspect that the level of enforced social isolation and containment that's possible in China, along with the medical resources available to address the epidemic, understates the ease of spread and suppresses the infection rate that countries without that level of state control will experience.

[ursus arctos]

Two more Italians have died, bringing the total to five

There are now 219 confirmed cases

The primary Milan stock index is down more than 4 percent

[Balderdasha]

It doesn't seem to appear on the WHO's most recent update: https://www.who.int/docs/default-sou...rsn=44ff8fd3_2

It seems the case in Iraq was a suspected case, and the patient has now tested negative.

[Balderdasha]

Two cases reported in Oman.

[Patrick Thistle]

Oh man....